You're an Idiot
by FoolsRushIn
Summary: When Jeff Winger gets invited to his old friend Barney Stinson's wedding, he only has one logical choice for a date: Annie Edison.


"Hey Barn," Robin calls from the counter where she's currently addressing invitations to their wedding. _Their wedding, _Barney smiles to himself. He looks over at her in question and she holds up one of the envelopes. "Who is this?" Barney squints to read the name printed from his seat on the couch. **Jeff Winger. **

"Oh, he's just an old friend."

"From Colorado?" Robin questions with a raised eyebrow. "Have you ever even been to Colorado?"

"Why, Robin Scherbatsky, are you doubting your future husband?" She rolls her eyes, but there's a smirk playing at her lips and he stands up to walk toward her.

"I'm not doubting you. I was just curious. I've never heard you mention," she pauses reading the invitation. "Jeff Winger." He shrugs.

"I haven't seen him in a couple years."

"But you're inviting him to our wedding?"

"We talk on the phone occasionally. He has no reason to come to town and I have no reason to go to Colorado. I figured our wedding would be a good way to get him to come here." Barney admits. And it's true.

He met Jeff through one of his friends at Altrucell, who for some reason he could never understand, decided to move to Colorado (he vaguely remembers something about family from there). His friend was a lawyer and worked at Jeff's law firm. When his friend got married Barney was flown out for the bachelor party, obviously, and he met Jeff. They hit it off. After all, they both had a strong penchant for scotch and attractive women. He had gradually lost touch with most of the guys he met in Colorado, but Jeff stuck for some reason.

"Should I give him a plus one?" Robin asks. "Or is he going to abuse the privilege?" Barney chuckles and shakes his head.

"I'll talk to him. He was always a more tame version of me." She nods jotting something down on the invitation.

"So you're going to call him." Robin assumes.

"No, believe me, when he gets an invitation to Barney Stinson's wedding he'll call me."

"How'd you meet some guy from Colorado anyway?"

"At a bachelor party." Robin looks unimpressed. "I promise he'll behave." She tosses Jeff's invitation onto the top of the pile and grabs another one. "Besides you're marrying the most awesome person I've ever known. You won't even notice if Jeff is there."

"I thought the most awesome person was your reflection?" Barney smiles widely remembering the first time they'd had this conversation.

"Actually, you're the most awesome person I've ever known." He informs her walking around the counter to stand next to her. She reaches over linking her hands around his neck, playing with the ends of his hair.

"That's funny because I'm the most awesome person I know too." He laughs loudly, shaking his head in amusement.

"I love you, Scherbatsky."

"Love you too, Stinson." She smiles leaning forward and claiming his lips gently.

* * *

"Look, I'll be there in an hour. Can you wait an hour?" Jeff inquires as he opens the door to his apartment and strips off his suit jacket.

"Yeah, I guess…" Comes the hesitant reply on the other end. He sighs loudly rubbing at the spot above his eyebrow where his head is starting to pound. What is it about this girl that always manages to give him stress headaches.

"There's no one else around to help you?"

"No, Jeff. It's 8 o'clock at night. Who else would still be at Greendale?" Annie huffs angrily and he can practically see her crossing her arms.

"You, apparently." He mutters. "Just give me an hour, Annie." He states before hanging up. He sighs tiredly rubbing a hand over his face. Only Annie could convince him to help her at Greendale of all places, after his very long day of work. He shakes his head, remembering his promise to be there in an hour, and shuffles through his mail. _Junk, bill, junk, Greendale ad (definitely junk). _He stops when he gets to an ivory envelope with unfamiliar feminine handwriting. He frowns in confusion and rips it open, pulling out the papers inside.

_You have been cordially invited…_

He skims the rest, eyes widening in shock when he realizes what it is. Barney's getting married? Jeff can barely wrap his head around it and before he can even think, he's dialing Barney's number and listening to the phone ring.

"Go for Barney."

"Barney," He greets smoothly. "It's Jeff."

"Winger! Hey! I take it you got my wedding invitation." Barney responds.

"Yeah, I did." He admits, eyes running over the piece of paper again in pure disbelief. "I gotta say, I'm surprised."

"Yeah, so am I." He laughs and then pauses. "But sometimes it's just right, you know?"

"Yeah," Jeff lies. He doesn't know what it's like. He has no idea actually. Nothing in his love life (_Ugh, love life. He sounds like a bad tabloid) _has ever felt right, except for that one night. That night that included two ridiculous declarations of love and a spur of the moment kiss. The kiss that Jeff still remembers and _holy shit_, it's been 3 years. Is it normal to still remember that?

"Anyway, you're going to come?"

"Definitely. I can take a day or two off work. I can't miss Barney Stinson getting married." Jeff remarks and he's serious. Barney has always been a big supporter of Jeff's nut up and die alone approach, so it's weird to listen to him talk calmly about getting married.

"You should bring someone." Barney suggests. "I'm not really friends with any of the other guys anymore and as much as I love my friends, they're kind of lame. So, you need good company."

"Uh, I'm not seeing anyone right now." Jeff stutters. Right now, yeah. When was the last time he went on a date? He can't even remember. God, that's embarrassing.

"Well, there's got to be someone you can bring."

"Whoever I bring, I'm stuck with for the whole weekend…"

"Bring a friend, then. That way you're not tied down to them and you'll still have someone to hang out with."

"Yeah maybe," Jeff murmurs mulling over his options in his head.

"I'm just looking out for your best interests. I'll be too busy getting married to make sure you're properly entertained and I definitely don't trust Ted or Marshall to do it." Barney scoffs.

"Okay," Jeff laughs at Barney's obvious distress over his wellbeing. "I'll figure it out."

"Good. I'm so glad you can come."

"Yeah, me too." He agrees. "And congratulations. You sound happy." Jeff notices aloud before he thinks to stop himself.

"I, uh, I really am." Barney replies and Jeff feels a slight pang because no matter how happy the study group makes him, they all have separate lives. And for the first time in a long while, Jeff kind of wishes he hadn't promised to 'nut up and die alone'. Barney sounds so content and happy…it's not that Jeff has never felt that, but the moments were always fleeting, nothing that would last forever. He groans inwardly at the direction his thoughts have taken and quickly pushes them away. He doesn't want to deal with this now. "I have to go, but once you find your plus one, you can mail us your RSVP card back and we'll see you at the wedding?"

"Yeah," Jeff agrees absentmindedly still trying to prevent anymore of his previous thoughts trickling from through. Barney hangs up and Jeff is stationary, before moving into action. If he busies himself, he won't think about marriage and other ridiculous things. He loosens his tie and pulls it off throwing it next to his suit jacket.

He chances a glance at the clock and realizes if he doesn't leave in the next 5 minutes, Annie will probably have his head. He rolls up his shirt sleeves and figures it's acceptable enough to do whatever it is she needs him to do. He was only half-listening when she was ranting on and on about the Dean and her forensics class and a diorama. He quickly makes his way out to his car and starts on the familiar roads to Greendale.

It's only once he's actually on the road that he gives himself a chance to think about whom to bring to the wedding. It needs to be some he can spend an entire weekend with, which rules out every single person he works with (and Pierce). Shirley has 3 kids, there's no way she'd give up a weekend with them to go to some wedding with Jeff. Plus, he really doesn't think Shirley would like Barney. He could bring Abed, but then again he couldn't really bring Abed without Troy and he doesn't think he could handle both of them, honestly how Annie lives with them all the time is beyond his understanding. Britta is a more viable choice…but she's still dating Troy and it's probably weird to bring your ex-friends-with-benefits to a wedding away for a weekend. Besides last time he was at a wedding with Britta, they both got drunk and almost married each other, there doesn't need to be a repeat of that. So, that leaves Annie as his one and only sensible option.

Surprisingly, his stomach doesn't sink at the realization and he almost feels...excited about it. Since he graduated, he's become surprisingly closer with Annie. He knows it's probably because everyone is now part of one half of a couple, with the exception of him and Annie, but he doesn't mind. Because it gives him more quality time to spend time with her and she's surprisingly fun to hang out with when she's not freaking out over grades or school or the like and even then it's not so bad. So, yeah taking Annie to the wedding with him will be fine because she's basically his best friend.

He pulls into a parking space in front of the library and wanders into the study room where he finds Annie standing on her tiptoes on a wheelie chair reaching for something on top of the bookcases. He may or may not have a slight heart attack.

"Jesus, Annie. What are you doing?" She jumps at his voice and loses her balance. He moves to catch her and manages to grab her waist and steady her before she can fall.

"Jeff! Don't sneak up on me like that." She admonishes using his shoulders as leverage to climb off the chair.

"Well, don't do things like that," he yells gesturing to the chair. She rolls her eyes.

"I was trying to get the paper up there, but those chairs aren't tall enough." She sighs glancing at the stationary chairs.

"You couldn't wait for me?" She sighs exasperatedly.

"I didn't know when you would get here."

"Well, I'm here now."

"Great." Annie mumbles sarcastically. "Can you get that paper down?" He nods and reaches up to grab it.

"Here."

"Thanks." She smiles up at him and places it on the table. "So, how was work?" She asks absentmindedly opening the pack of paper.

"Is that really all you needed me for?"

"No, I need you to help me take that to the cafeteria." She points to the diorama behind him, which is a weird mix of dirt and occasional body parts. "And of course, your stellar company." He chuckles at the sarcasm in the last half of her sentence and walks over to her.

"I'm sorry. Annie, it's great to see you. I'd be happy to help you with anything you need tonight." She tries to glare at him, but the corners of her mouth turn up and she giggles.

"You're unbelievable." He hops up on the table watching her as she constructs the final parts of her diorama. A smile works its way onto his face and he ignores the weird weight that settles in his chest whenever he looks at her. He clears his throat gaining Annie's attention again.

"What are you doing the weekend of May 25th?" She immediately digs in her backpack and pulls out a day planner, which doesn't surprise him at all, and flips to the weekend in question.

"Nothing," she smiles brightly flipping it closed.

"Good, you're coming to New York with me."

"Uh, what?" Her eyebrows scrunch together in confusion as she looks at him and seriously, she looks adorable. _(He was never supposed to think of things as adorable, dammit Annie). _

"I got invited to a wedding in New York and I don't know anyone there." Annie is still staring at him with the same face, so he elaborates more. "I was told if I didn't bring someone with me, I'd probably be bored."

"And you want to bring me?" The surprise is clear in her voice and he feels his heart sink a little.

"Of course, I like spending time with you." He confesses quietly and Annie's expression softens into a smile.

"Okay."

"You'll come?" She nods, smile brightening.

"Good." Jeff beams back at her and the warmth in his chest spreads through his whole body.

* * *

"Hey, we got an RSVP back from your friend today." Robin announces as she curls up on the couch beside him and hands it to him. Barney grins and tears it open, inspecting it. "Plus one?" She murmurs into his shoulder.

"Plus one," he confirms.

"Mmm," Robin hums. "Can you believe we're getting married in two weeks?"

"Cold feet?"

"Never." She replies with a smile. "Although ask me again the day of."

"Are you going to back out on me?" He asks in amusement.

"If I back out, I'm taking you with me."

"That assuages my fears." He comments sarcastically, his fingers twisting in her hair. Robin takes a deep breath rolling her head to look him in the eyes.

"You know I'm in this, right?"

"Hmm?" He replies drawing shapes on her leg.

"I'm not going to leave. I'm in this for good and I love you. Okay?"

"Okay." He smiles leaning forward to rest his head against hers.

"Seriously, Barney. I know we don't get emotional often…but last year kind of sucked for me and I don't want to have to do that again."

"You won't." He promises quietly. "Last year sucked for me too. I was just pretending I was happy when I really wasn't. But now…" He trails off absentmindedly.

"You're happy?"

"Of course, I'm happy." He confirms. "How could I not be? I'm marrying Robin Scherbatsky. Do you know how many guys would kill to be in my position?" She snorts.

"Not that many."

"That's ridiculous. I can think of at least 3 and that's not counting the ones I don't know." She raises her eyebrows in amusement. "You better be ready, Scherbatsky, because you're not getting rid of me."

"That's good, because I don't want to." They smile at each other and he leans forward giving her a light kiss on the lips before leaning away.

"Alright, enough of this mushy stuff. We've got wedding planning to do." He reaches over to grab the pad of paper he'd been looking at before she came home. "I'm trying to do seating arrangements, but it's harder than I thought." He muses looking it over.

"Well, my dad and my mom can't be at the same table. And your sister and Ted can't be at the same table."

"Ted," he utters darkly.

"I think it's time to accept the fact that your sister isn't nearly as innocent as you think she is."

"But all these years I've been making fun of Ted because I banged his mom, he wasn't supposed to get me back for that." He whines and Robin leans away crossing her arms.

"Did you bang Ted's mom?"

"You banged Ted." He returns quickly.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I don't know. It seemed like banging Ted was the topic of conversation." He murmurs moodily.

"It wasn't." Robin rolls her eyes. "Back to the seating chart. Is there anyone else who can't sit next to each other?"

"You can't put the Americans with the Canadians. That'd be offensive." Robin glares at him.

"So, we're not sitting at the same table?" Barney sighs loudly pinching the bridge of his nose.

"When will you listen to me? I've already told you that you're so awesome, you transcend the Canadian label. But no one else ever will. You're the exception, not the rule." He explains in a bored tone as if he's already said it 100 times (which he has).

"Fine. No Canadians with the Americans." She agrees reluctantly.

"Is Patrice coming?" Robin nods.

"I didn't give her a choice."

"Still trying to make up for how mean you were to her?" He asks knowingly.

"I WAS NEVER MEAN TO PATRICE!" She yells and Barney raises an eyebrow.

"You were saying…" She shakes her head.

"Whatever, can we put Patrice at the table with your friend Jeff and his date?" He nods.

"I'm glad Jeff used his plus one. I told him most of the people at our wedding would be too lame to entertain him."

"Barney!" She scolds. "What if he brings a stripper or something?"

"Why would he do that?"

"You said he was just like you." She reminds him.

"Would I ever bring a stripper to an important event?" He questions, his face full of amusement.

"Do you remember bringing a hooker to my award show for Ted?"

"How dare you?" He says mock anger in his voice. "She was a paralegal. I just told Ted she was a hooker to freak him out." She shakes her head at him. "But no, Jeff is different now. He got disbarred, had to go to community college. It was this whole big thing. But anyway, he changed. You don't have to worry about him pulling any classic Stinson shenanigans."

"My mind is at ease."

* * *

Jeff grabs his bags and throws them in the trunk of his Lexus. He promised Annie that he would be there by 8 am to pick her up and it is 7:55. He's late, as per usual, and he knows he'll never hear the end of it.

When he pulls up in front of her building ten minutes later she's standing outside, her bag on the sidewalk next to her. She places her bag in the back and carefully climbs in the car.

"I know I'm five minutes late." He says before she can yell at him.

"It's okay." He rolls his eyes.

"It's not, but if you want to pretend. By all means," he gestures with his right hand to indicate her to continue. She reaches over gently tapping his thigh (his heartbeat does not kick up when this happens).

"I'm sorry. It's early and Troy and Britta kept me up most of the night." Her nose wrinkles in disgust and he lets out a quiet 'ew'. "It's terrible. Between them and Abed and Rachel I'm starting to feel like a giant fifth wheel."

"That's why I invited you this weekend." Annie flashes him a smile. "So, our flight leaves at 11 and-"

"OUR FLIGHT?!" Annie's voice nears a dangerously high pitch.

"Uh, yeah?"

"You didn't tell me we were flying."

"Annie, it would take almost two days to drive there. I figured you just researched flights on your own since you didn't bug me about it at all." She shrugs biting her bottom lip.

"I guess I've been busy with graduation and applying to jobs. I didn't really think about it." Jeff smiles in amusement.

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with Annie?" She rolls her eyes.

"So, we're flying?" Jeff nods. "I don't do well on planes…" She murmurs twisting her hands nervously. He moves his right hand over to grab her twitching ones.

"Hey, it'll be fine. It's a short flight and I'll be right next to you." Annie nods and he squeezes her hand one more time before dropping it. She smiles gratefully at him before turning to look out the window. Jeff takes one last glance at Annie and then focuses on the road ahead of him.

* * *

"T-minus 22 hours until the wedding!" Ted announces entering the church and Robin turns to glare at him.

"All this yelling is not helping, Ted." She says through gritted teeth.

"Why aren't you more excited?" Ted asks smile wide. "You're getting married!"

"I am excited, but my wedding has been mostly monopolized." Robin mutters looking pointedly at him and Lily.

"Hey, I'm your maid of honor. Just doin' my job." Lily defends and Ted balks at her.

"You took more control over this wedding than I did!"

"That's only because you were making bad decisions." She informs and Ted rolls her eyes.

"Oh please, like Robin actually likes those magenta bridesmaids dresses you picked out." He replies snootily.

"She likes them better than that stupid-"

"GUYS!" Robin shouts grabbing their attention. "All the decisions are made. There's no point in arguing about them. We're just here to figure out where everything will go."

"Sorry, sweetie." Lily apologizes giving Robin a side hug. "From now on this is all about you and Barney, okay?" She nods and Ted looks around in confusion.

"Wait, where is Barney?"

"Barney and Marshall went to check out the reception space and meet with the band that you hired without our consent two days ago."

"Hey, your DJ cancelled! It was fate that I ran into Cindy and she knew someone who could play your wedding." Robin purses her lips.

"Fine. But if they're terrible, this is all on you."

"Yes, fine. I accept full responsibility for you guys choosing a flaky DJ, that needed to be replaced last minute instead of picking a band like I suggested you do in January." Ted replies sarcastically and gets an elbow in the side from Lily.

"The bride is always right, Ted."

"Robin, I promise the band will be fine. Cindy wouldn't give me a bad recommendation." Robin nods taking a deep breath.

"I'm just a little stressed and my father is going to be here in a couple of hours and I really can't handle anything going wrong." Lily nods and moves into action.

"Okay, you go check out the bride's dressing room. Make sure everything there is where you need it to be and I'll go check out the groom's space."

"The bride's room is beautiful." Ted mentions casually. The girls stare at him in surprise and he shrugs. "This is the same church Victoria almost got marred in." Realization dawns on Robin's face

"So, can I expect you to shimmy up the drainpipe to get into my room?" She cracks and Ted's face darkens.

"That was a very traumatic moment of my life and I'd appreciate it if it was not brought up again." Robin smiles, half-apologetic and half-amused.

"We won't mention it again." Lily promises.

"Hey Ted, would you know anything about the dents on the drainpipe?" Robin calls from down the hallway with a snicker.

* * *

"Okay, what is up with you?" Jeff asks once they're seated on the plane. Annie grips the armrests tightly focusing on a point somewhere on the floor.

"I already told you, I don't do well on planes."

"That's not what I meant. You've been weird lately." He comments. "For one, you made no attempt to plan anything on this trip. Two: you didn't even ask me about anything regarding this trip. Three: you've been weirdly quiet." He turns his body to face her. "Those seem like enough points."

"Nothing's wrong." She murmurs, eyes still on the ground.

"Are we really going to do this?" He questions in exasperation. "I don't want to deal with weird, sad Annie all weekend. Just tell me what's wrong so I can fix it." Annie snorts and shakes her head.

"You can't fix everything, Jeff."

"Try me."

"I don't know what I'm going to do." She finally states.

"With what?" He prompts.

"With my life."

"Uh, forensics? That was your major, right?"

"Yeah, but-" She breaks off putting her head in her hands briefly before sitting up straight. "All my life I had this plan. Bachelor's in Health Care Administration, then get a Master's, do some internships, and eventually work my way up in a hospital. It was all straightforward. Now, I graduated with a degree in forensics and I don't know what to do next. This wasn't my plan. I've been researching and applying to jobs and graduate schools, but I don't actually know what I want."

"Okay, okay," Jeff says soothingly trying to calm the hysterical girl next to him. "I know this is going to be hard for you, but try and let it go for the weekend. When we get back to Greendale, I'll talk to some of my contacts at the police station for you and we can find you a job or internship or something and then you can decide what to do with grad school once you get your acceptance letters." He suggests chancing a glance at Annie, who seems to have calmed at least a little bit.

"Blow it off for the weekend?" Her voice is still a pitch higher than normal, but Jeff takes it as a good sign and nods. "Okay, okay. Be loosey goosey." She murmurs to herself shaking her body out and Jeff raises an eyebrow.

"What are you doing?"

"Being loose." He chuckles.

"Annie, I don't think you and loose go in the same sentence." She crosses her arms and glares at him.

"You just told me to be loose!"

"No, I told you to stop stressing over your impending future. I did not tell you to be loose." He says, an amused smile on his face.

"Fine, but I can be loose."

"I believe you." He nods, but he knows she can detect the sarcasm in her voice.

"I didn't ask you at all what the plan was for today!" She points out.

"Yeah, but you forgot because you were too busy worrying about other things. That's not being loose." Annie's frown deepens. "Hey, it's not a bad thing. You wouldn't be Annie, if you were relaxed about everything."

"Doesn't mean it's a good thing." She grumbles sullenly.

"But it is! Do you know how lost I'd be, how lost the study group in general would be without your need for structure? We need you to keep us focused, otherwise," he smiles and makes sure he has her attention before continuing. "Otherwise the light's go off and the ice cream melts." Her frown slowly morphs into a smile and her eyes shine.

"Thanks Jeff," He grins meeting her eyes. After a minute, he coughs breaking their stare and starts flipping through the in-flight magazine. Three days alone with Annie…this has the potential to be a unique (thankfully non-Greendale) experience.

* * *

"We're getting married tomorrow." Robin whispers into Barney's chest, kissing him gently.

"I know. It's kind of crazy, huh?" He asks stroking her hair.

"Do you remember when you first hit on me?"

"Which time? There were many failed attempts." Robin laughs in acknowledgment and props her head up on his chest, so she can look at him.

"That night after we played laser tag." He nods in remembrance. "One of your points was that we both hate marriage." Barney barks out a laugh. "And here we are the night before our wedding…"

"And I'm not even freaking out."

"Me neither." She admits smiling at him. "Although, I do think we should've eloped somewhere."

"Lily and Ted driving you insane?"

"Yes!" She exclaims. "And they're fighting about everything."

"Well, after tomorrow it's over." He comforts her.

"Thank God." She sighs in relief running her fingers across his chest. "Then it's just you and me."

"You and me and not leaving bed for days." Robin smiles, but quickly follows it up with a shrug.

"I don't know, that's kind of what we do now…"

"That's because we're already awesome, Scherbatsky." He sighs in exasperation.

"You're right, soon-to-be Mr. Scherbatsky-Stinson."

"Robin." Barney replies in an unamused tone. "We both know that I will not take your Canadian name."

"It's not Canadian." She mutters under her breath.

"Besides Robin Stinson kind of has a nice ring to it."

"Hmmm, I'll think about it." He gasps.

"You'll think about it? YOU'LL THINK ABOUT IT?! Robin, the Stinson name must be regarded with much seriousness and I'm afraid I can't allow you to use it until you prove to me you're worthy."

"And how on Earth will I be able to do that?" She asks with a smirk already knowing what his answer will be.

"I have a few ideas…" He answers wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Robin laughs.

"I'm glad we decided not to spend tonight apart."

"Psh, only lame couples like Marshall and Lily do that." He says with an eyeroll.

"Now, back to you proving your worthy of the Stinson moniker."

"You're ridiculous."

"I'm 100% awesome and you know it." Robin thinks back to the last time he said that to her and she nods leaning up to kiss him soundly.

"I do."

* * *

Annie sighs and rolls over in the hotel bed glancing at the clock. The bright red numbers read 12:36 and she groans. She and Jeff had parted ways hours ago and she still can't sleep. She reaches out for her phone and types out a quick message.

**To: Jeff Winger  
are you still awake?**

She places the phone back on the nightstand and flips through channels on the television until she lands on late night infomercials, normally those can put her to sleep. He phone vibrates and she quickly reaches out for it.

**From: Jeff Winger**  
**yea. cnt sleep?**

She bites her bottom lip trying to decide how to respond. They could continue to carry on their conversation through texting or…she could ask Jeff to come over. _Loosey goosey, _she reminds herself before typing out a reply.

**To: Jeff Winger  
nope, do you want to come hang out?**

His response comes less than a minute later.

**From: Jeff Winger  
be ovr in a sec **

True to his word, Annie hears a knock on her door soon after receiving his text message. She hops out of bed, flicking on a light, and swings the door open. Jeff smiles bemusedly at her.

"I think that shirt is a little big on you." She blushes and glances down at her sleeping attire, a giant button-down plaid shirt.

"That's kind of the point." He laughs and she moves aside allowing him into her hotel room. He flops onto her bed and she sits down next to him.

"No wonder you can't sleep, why are you watching this crap?" She shrugs.

"It always helps me sleep."

"Infomercials help you sleep?" He asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes! Why is that so hard to believe?"

"I dunno," he mumbles flipping through the channels, head propped up on his hand. "I always pegged you as one of those people who fall asleep to whale noises or something."

"No, I don't understand how anyone can fall asleep to those terrible noises. They put me on edge."

"But you can fall asleep to the sound of humanity failing?" Jeff smirks and she rolls her eyes.

"Some of that stuff is useful!"

"Annie," he says warningly. "Don't tell me you buy things from infomercials."

"Uhhhh," she squeaks out trying to figure out what to say. "Only your Christmas gifts." She finally utters in a rush of words.

"WHAT?!" He inches closer to her. "Annie! Infomercials are rip offs!"

"You liked your present, didn't you?" She raises an eyebrow.

"Well yeah…"

"Hmph," she crosses her arms and smiles in triumph. He smiles at her affectionately and shakes his head.

"You better not get anymore of my presents from infomercials." He informs her settling back onto the bed.

"Are you threatening me?" She laughs.

"Don't laugh, Edison. I'm being very serious."

"You couldn't hurt a fly." Jeff makes an offended noise in the back of his throat and rolls over to face her.

"I'll have you know I was once very dangerous."

"Mmm, I believe that." She agrees with an easy smile. "But now you're a softy." She reaches over running her hand gently over his shoulder.

"I am not a softy." Annie tries to disguise her laugh behind a cough.

"You're right." She assures him smiling widely, he glares back.

"Go to sleep," he mumbles gruffly.

"Making your voice deeper doesn't mean you're any more dangerous."

"Shut up, Annie." She giggles softly before rolling over and focusing on the television.

* * *

"Nervous?" Ted questions shuffling up next to Barney at the altar.

"No, I'm not nervous. Why would I be nervous? I'm just committing to one tie for the rest of my life. It's fine." Barney says in a rush of words, eyes scanning his guests.

"Barney, you picked the right tie. Robin loves you and you love her." He takes a deep breath.

"I know. I need to see Robin." He murmurs anxiously bouncing on his toes.

"Luckily for you, you're about to." Ted smiles as the music starts up and the back doors open to welcome the ring bearer, Marvin being pushed in a stroller by Marshall. Barney can't deny how adorable the kid is. Marshall gives him a reassuring smile as he sits down in the front row, Marvin in tow. Lily comes next gently patting Barney's arm as she walks by and stands on the bride's side.

When the music switches to welcome the bride, Barney thinks his heart is literally (Robin is having such an influence on him…) going to beat out of his chest. The doors swing open and when he sees her, all the breath leaves his lungs. She looks amazing and he realizes, not for the first time, how lucky he is to be spending the rest of his life with this woman.

She beams at him as she comes to stand next to him and he can't help but smile right back. The beginning of the ceremony passes in a blur. He's not all that aware of anything besides Robin. He's paying enough attention to know when to speak, but that's about it. Then, it's time for the vows and he really doesn't have anything planned, but he breathes and decides to just say what's on his mind.

"Well, I think I used my vows trying to get rid of Nick for you. But here goes, I was never going to get married." Robin smiles widely at him. "I was so opposed to commitment that I had an entire apartment engineered around getting rid of women. I'm still new to this whole thing and I have no idea what I'm doing. In fact, I was completely freaking out about that this morning. But then I realized that I'm not alone in this and you're just as lost as I am." She laughs and nods in acknowledgment. "I don't know what the future has in store for us, but I would never want to do it with anyone but you. I know we're going to be okay, because we're awesome and this union is going to legendary." Robin laughs and he can tell she's fighting back tears.

"You are the single most frustrating individual I have ever met." He lets out a loud bark of laughter. "You drive me absolutely insane most of the time. You constantly do things that make me question your sanity and my own. But at the end of the day I would be so bored with anything less. I know you love me because you've crossed the border of Canada for me twice and you know I love you because I put up with your Hoe Be Gone Sleep System. You're an idiot," he mouths an 'I love you too' at her. "But you're my idiot."

"So cheesy, Scherbatsky." He murmurs earning a laugh from her. Barney doesn't hear anything else from that point on until 'you may now kiss the bride.' He pulls Robin close delivering what he hopes is an earth-shattering kiss (they've had quite a few of those in their run). When he pulls away, her eyes shine.

"Guess you have to start calling me Stinson now."

"I'll think about it."

"Mr. and Mrs. Barney Stinson, everybody!" The minister announces as they make their journey back down the aisle.

"That's weird." She whispers to him and he nods in agreement. Barney catches Jeff's eye on the way back down and they nod at each other. They definitely need to catch up later, if only so Barney can find out who the hell the hot brunette on his arm is and why he's not dating her. As they pass Jeff, he turns his attention back to his bride unable to stop the wide smile blooming across his face again. Holy shit, he's married.

* * *

Jeff is leaning against the bar nursing his scotch, eyes never leaving Annie who's across the reception hall holding the baby who was the ring bearer and talking to a short red-head named Lily, who was the maid of honor. He mentally curses himself for the fact that Annie holding a baby does weird things to his insides. He's not supposed to care about her beyond a friend but then she does stupid things like believe in him and he can't help it. He sighs tearing his eyes away and glaring down at the bar. He hates feelings.

"Winger!" He hears a voice to his right call. He turns and smiles when he realizes it's Barney.

"Hey, Stinson! You're a married man now." Jeff says with a smirk. "Can't say I'd ever thought I'd be at your wedding."

"Yeah, me neither." Barney remarks ordering his own drink. "So, how've you been?"

"Good, finally got my license back so I'm officially a lawyer again." Barney laughs shaking his head.

"You duping the whole system should've been enough of a reason for them to let you keep it." Jeff shrugs.

"Eh, it all worked out." He decides, eyes landing on Annie again.

"So, who's the girl?" Barney asks knowingly.

"Oh, that's just my friend Annie. We met at school."

"Your friend? She's just your friend?!" Barney interrogates, the incredulity seeping into his tone. He nods. "You know, I always liked you Jeff, but if that girl is just your friend, then you're an idiot." Jeff's eyes widen at Barney's frank comment. "Look, I was friends with Robin for seven and a half years before I finally proposed to her. I don't regret any of it, because it got us to where we are today. But I do wish we would've figured it out a hell of a lot sooner."

"Why are you telling me this?" Jeff can feel his palms getting sweaty and he swears his heart is beating faster simply from Barney's words.

"Well, first of all Annie is incredibly hot. Dude, just look at her. Any guy, myself excluded because Robin's pretty amazing, would want to be with her." Jeff clenches his fists at the mention of other guys. Yeah, okay, Barney does have a point though. His eyes drift over to Annie clad in a short purple dress that hugs all the right places. Seriously, he had lost the ability to speak this morning when he first saw her. "Also, I was the idiot in love with his best friend for so long that I've managed to pick up what it looks like." Jeff opens and closes his mouth searching for the right words.

"I'm not in love with Annie." He finally says, but his voice is high and his words are sputtered and _wow, way to be convincing Winger. _

"I'm not saying you have to propose to her right now, but don't wait seven and half years like I did." Barney advises clapping him on the back. "Now, if you'll excuse me I have an incredibly hot wife waiting for me at some coat closet in this place." Barney grins lecherously and just like that he's gone, leaving Jeff to contemplate his words. He steels himself stuffing his hands into his pockets and walking over to Annie.

"Hey," she grins. "I was just about to come look for you." _Oh, fuck it. _

"Do you, uh, do you want to dance?" He asks nervously, _dude you're not twelve years old calm down. _

"Oh, you don't have to," she assures him.

"Annie, come on. Would I ever do anything I didn't want to?" He smirks reminding himself that this is Annie and he has no reason to be nervous.

"Well, I guess not…" She smiles up at him.

"Milady."

"Milord." She replies slipping her hand into his.

* * *

**1 year later**

"Why are we here again?" Pierce grumbles as they enter MacLaren's Bar.

"Because Abed has a meeting about a television show, Troy wanted to buy an 'I heart NY' shirt," Jeff starts to explain, only to be interrupted.

"Dude, those shirts are dope." Jeff rolls his eyes.

"Britta wanted to come because of Troy."

"I am perfectly capable of being on my own without a man, Jeff. I came because I haven't been to New York since I used to live here." They all groan.

"Annie and I are here because we wanted to go on vacation and we have friends in the city. And you came because you can't stand to be left out of anything, even though Shirley's not here." Jeff finishes ushering them all to a corner booth.

"But what are we doing in this sucky bar? It's gay. You know what I mean?"

"I beg of you, please stop talking." Jeff mutters.

"We're meeting Jeff's friends here." Annie informs Pierce, rubbing Jeff's leg to calm him down.

"Are they another group of close-knit outcasts that are friends against all odds?"

"Abed, you shouldn't refer to yourself as an outcast." Britta says supportively.

"I don't fit the mold of a traditional character, which makes me an outcast. None of us really fit the traditional mold." He says looking around the table regarding each of them. Jeff shifts uncomfortably under his stare.

"What the hell is A-bed talking about?" Pierce asks in his usual state of confusion.

"Hey, they're here!" Annie points out dragging everyone's attention away from Pierce and back to the four people who just approached their table. Everyone goes around the table introducing themselves as Barney, Robin, Marshall, and Lily took their seats.

"No Ted?" Jeff notices the missing member of the others' group.

"Nah, he's off being lame." Barney dismisses with a wave of his hand. The other three ignore him as Lily speaks up.

"He's proposing to his girlfriend tonight." Annie and Tory both let out loud aww's and Britta grumbles.

"Britta, it's not you getting married. You don't always have to groan about it." Annie complains glaring at their friend.

"Well, excuse me for not having a wedding binder so big it can't even fit on a bookshelf." Annie gasps indignantly. Jeff grabs her attention away trying to diffuse the situation.

"Do you want a drink, babe?" Barney grins and gives him a thumbs up.

"Nice." He grins. "I knew you could hit that."

"Barney!" Robin scolds hitting him lightly in the arm, but her mouth turns up at the corners.

"Hit that?" Britta asks in disgust. "She's a person, not an object to satisfy a man's wants."

"Someone's not getting any." Barney mutters under his breath.

"I am actually! Troy is my boyfriend." She says proudly jutting her chin at Troy, who looks up from inspecting his bag of souvenirs.

"Sorry, bro." Troy shrugs in response and goes back to his bag.

"Appletini?" Annie requests and Jeff sighs in resignation.

"One day I'm going to get you to order something else." He informs her, kissing her once before getting up and heading to the bar.

"Marshmallow!" Lily squeals excitedly pointing toward the entrance, where Mustache Marshall has just entered.

"Oh my god, he's here." Marshall breathes in awe.

"Who's here? What the hell is happening?" Pierce mutters looking around the bar.

"Mustache Marshall," Barney points to the man who bears a striking resemblance to Marshall, except for the fact that he has a mustache. "We've discovered that everyone in our group has a doppleganger. That's Marshall's. Robin's is some lesbian chick."

"We should introduce her to Brittles." Pierce suggests with a chuckle and Britta glares at him.

"Mine is a fertility doctor. Ted has a Mexican wrestler. And Lily," Barney smiles widely and closes his eyes. "Lily's doppleganger is a stripper."

"Stop picturing it!" Lily instructs.

"Cool," Troy breathes out. "Do you think our group has dopplegangers?"

"Hm, probably not." Abed answers and Troy's face crumbles. "This seems like a well-established recurring gag. Since we've been through five seasons and have yet to meet dopplegangers, it seems unlikely that it would occur at this point." Lily, Marshall, Robin, and Barney stare at Abed in confusion.

"Abed likes to think of our life like television." Annie gently explains.

"We had a doppledeaner, though." Troy mutters sullenly watching Mustache Marshall across the bar.

"Yeah, but he served a very specific purpose to try and destroy our college with Chang and his minions of children." Abed explains.

"I want a doppleganger!" Troy wails and Abed gently pats him on the shoulder.

"There's probably someone out there who could be your doppleganger." Abed comforts him and Troy's eyes light up.

"Can we go find him?" Abed nods. "I'm going to find my doppleganger!" Troy cheers as Jeff comes back with Annie's drink in hand.

"Milady," he greets dropping it down in front of her.

"Ugh, when are you two going to stop with that? It gives Jeff such a sense of ownership over you." Britta complains.

"Plus it's gay! Just like you!" Pierce calls out and Jeff rolls his eyes ignoring both of them.

"So, how's Marvin?" Annie asks turning toward Lily, who smiles brightly at the mention of her son pulling out her phone and flipping through pictures. Marshall, Abed, and Troy devolve into a conversation discussing the whereabouts of the Lochness monster while Britta and Barney argue the finer points of feminism. Jeff throws his arm around Annie's shoulders and leans against the booth surveying the insanity going on around him. He's pretty okay with it all.


End file.
